- 6/9/2025
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) held a press briefing on Monday.
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00:00The American people have a constitutional right to peacefully assemble, to express themselves and to petition the government to redress any grievances that they may have with policies that will impact their lives.
00:24That's a constitutional right that is contained in the First Amendment.
00:31We encourage everyone who is exercising that right to do so peacefully in Los Angeles County and beyond.
00:42But the right to peacefully assemble, to express themselves to the government in order to bring about change in this country, is a fundamental American principle.
01:02And we will continue to stand behind it.
01:07I'm thankful for the leadership of Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass in terms of managing a fragile situation that Donald Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans are intentionally trying to inflame.
01:28They should be ashamed of themselves.
01:31And these people have zero credibility, zero credibility, on the other side of the aisle when it comes to issues of law and order.
01:46Questions?
01:47Mr. Lieber, good afternoon. Thank you.
01:51Do you think that some of the images we're seeing from Los Angeles put Democrats who are in swing districts in a tough spot when they might be asked to defend some of these things, when immigration and fighting back against ICE is not a front and center issue in those districts?
02:05No one is actually defending any unlawful behavior.
02:12I am defending the right for the American people to peacefully assemble.
02:19And we'll continue to encourage people to exercise that right peacefully.
02:24And if anyone crosses the line, they should be held accountable by the relevant authorities.
02:33We will not be lectured by Donald Trump and anyone in the Republican Party about issues of law and order.
02:43Not a single one of them.
02:45Donald Trump promised to lower costs on day one.
02:51Costs haven't gone down.
02:53They're going up.
02:54Inflation is going up.
02:55Donald Trump lied to the American people.
02:57You know what he did do on day one?
03:00He pardoned hundreds of violent felons, criminals, who brutally assaulted police officers and attacked the Capitol on January 6th.
03:13That's what Donald Trump did on day one.
03:16The hostages weren't released on day one like he promised.
03:19He lied.
03:21The war didn't end in Ukraine on day one.
03:24Donald Trump lied.
03:26Costs didn't go down in America.
03:29On day one of Donald Trump's presidency, he lied to you, the American people.
03:34You know what he did on day one?
03:36He pardoned hundreds of violent felons who brutally beat police officers.
03:43That's the insurrection.
03:45And so the notion that Donald Trump and his minions, his sycophants here in the House of Representatives or in the Senate, who are nothing more than a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, are going to lecture America about issues of law and order, get lost.
04:05We're not failing you at all.
04:09You have zero credibility on this issue.
04:14What did you make of President Trump's comment saying that it would be a great thing to see Governor Gavin Newsom arrested?
04:23Donald Trump is clearly trying to distract from the fact that he has a failed administration.
04:30A failed administration.
04:31He promised to lower costs.
04:34He promised to deal with inflation in America.
04:37Costs aren't going down.
04:38Life has become more expensive.
04:42The business environment is shaky.
04:45Small businesses are being forced to close.
04:48Our credit rating has been reduced.
04:55The bond market is reacting adversely to Donald Trump's erratic policies.
05:02The Trump tariffs are going to result in thousands of dollars of additional expenses per year on everyday Americans.
05:11Donald Trump and the Republicans are crashing the economy in real time and they're driving us toward a recession.
05:18His presidency has been a failure.
05:20And now they're trying to jam this big ugly bill, this disgusting abomination down the throats of the American people.
05:29A bill that's deeply unpopular with the American people and with just getting started.
05:36And then he's in a big fight with Elon Musk, the most personal of disputes possible.
05:44Is it any surprise to anyone that he's trying to distract the country with this erratic and extreme behavior?
05:53No.
05:54And we're not going to fall for it.
05:59Thank you, Mr. Leader.
06:00On Friday, a district court judge in California granted approval for billions of dollars in retroactive pay to athletes
06:09and paved the way for athletes going forward to get paid for their name, image, and likeness.
06:14This comes ahead of a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing this week on this issue.
06:19As a sports fan and the top House Democrat, what's your reaction to that ruling?
06:23And what role does Congress play going forward in helping shape the landscape now that this ruling has been granted?
06:29We look forward to our continued conversations with the NCAA and the relevant college athletic authorities in order to make sure that in view of this court decision,
06:44that there's a framework that exists nationally to make sure that there's a level playing field and that athletes and their families are in a position to benefit and not be exploited by outside forces that may seek to take advantage of them.
07:03And that at the same time, we can maintain a competitive landscape across all sports, not simply men's basketball and men's football.
07:16I understand the Hispanic Caucus is seeking an investigation into the handling of the protests in Los Angeles.
07:22What do you see as avenues for oversight and investigation into that matter?
07:27Well, we'll continue to press Republicans here in the House to undertake their constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch.
07:40It only takes a handful of Republicans to actually show some spine, some backbone, and some courage at what is happening in America, a clear assault on the American way of life, on the rule of law, and on our democracy.
07:56And the American people aren't feeling it.
07:58That's why this guy in the Oval Office is the most unpopular president in the first 100 days in American history, claims to have some big mandate.
08:10And each and every day that passes, he becomes more unpopular as the behavior and the corruption and the cruelty and the chaos becomes more erratic.
08:21So we're going to continue to use every lever available to us as members of Congress, partnering with our colleagues in state and local governments across the country to shine an intense spotlight on the egregious overreach that is taking place by the Trump administration on a daily basis as it relates to targeting law-abiding immigrant communities.
08:50As well as dreamers and farm workers and people who are actually contributing to the communities that they live in on a day-to-day basis.
09:04That's why you're seeing the American people express their discontent with another lie that came from the Trump administration.
09:14The Trump administration said that they were going to focus on targeting violent felons who should not be in this country.
09:25And that's something that we could have agreed with had that been the effort that was undertaken.
09:33Instead, Donald Trump and his administration are deporting American citizens, children with cancer, to countries that they've never lived in before.
09:49That's an assault on the American way of life.
09:53It's why this administration is collapsing in terms of popularity and public approval in real time.
10:03And this reckless bill, this out-of-control budget, this GOP tax scam, the one big ugly bill, the disgusting abomination that they're trying to jam down the throats of the American people,
10:17is not going to make things better for everyday Americans.
10:21It's going to hurt everyday Americans.
10:24And the American people are rejecting it because it's designed to help extreme mega-Republican billionaire donors.
10:34And that's unacceptable.
10:36That's unconscionable.
10:37And that's un-American.
10:40Second round.
10:43So the Department of Homeland Security released some information about some of the individuals that were apprehended
10:50during ICE's raid in LA over the weekend.
10:55And some of those people were previously convicted of murder and sexual battery and cruelty to children, amongst many other crimes.
11:03You say that if they wanted to go after violent people, that's something you could agree on.
11:08So do you support ICE detaining illegal immigrants that have criminal histories and backgrounds?
11:14The Department of Homeland Security, under the leadership of the so-called Secretary Kristi Noem, is a complete and total embarrassment.
11:24And so anything that they put out should be scrutinized through that lens.
11:30Nonetheless, is that something that you would agree with going after?
11:33I've laid my statement on this issue, and we've been very clear that the deportation efforts of any administration should be focused on making communities safe and deporting violent criminals who are undocumented.
11:52So Elon Musk has gone on his social media network and appears to be endorsing the Trump administration's response, also deleting many of the posts from over the weekend, including the claim that Trump is named in the Epstein files.
12:07Do you think that we could be looking at greater influence again from Musk over the Trump administration, something that would warrant congressional scrutiny?
12:17Yeah, it's not clear to me, at the end of the day, our view of the whole sordid affair between Trump and Musk is that we're going to keep the focus on the disgusting abomination that is the GOP tax scam.
12:32The largest cut to health care in American history.
12:36Republicans are targeting the health care of the American people.
12:41More than 15 million Americans will lose their health care as a result of the GOP tax scam.
12:47Hospitals will close.
12:48Nursing homes will shut down.
12:50Tens of millions of Americans will pay increased premiums, co-pays, and deductibles.
12:55And people will die.
12:58That's a result of the one big ugly bill.
13:02That's disgusting that this is the Republican agenda.
13:06At the same period of time, they want to enact the largest cut to supplemental nutritional assistance in American history.
13:16Literally, these extremists are trying to rip food out of the mouths of children, veterans, and seniors in the United States of America.
13:25That's a disgusting abomination.
13:27And they're doing all of this to reward their billionaire donors?
13:31We never said at any point that we were going to let our foot off the gas pedal as it relates to the so-called DOGE effort to destroy the American way of life,
13:46to target thousands of veterans who have been fired, to take a chainsaw to Social Security.
13:53We disagree with all of that.
13:55Our goal is to take a chainsaw to Project 2025.
14:00And we're not going to rest until that gets done, no matter who is standing on the side of the Trump administration.
14:10Two resolutions condemning the Boulder attack are coming to the floor this week.
14:14One of them, from Congressman Gabe Evans, includes language labeling Free Palestine an anti-Semitic slogan
14:21and also praising ICE for, quote-unquote, protecting the homeland.
14:24I know that some of your progressive members are very unhappy with some of that language.
14:29I'm wondering, A, how you plan to vote on that personally, and B, how you're advising members to vote on it.
14:35It's not simply a subset of members of the House Democratic Caucus who oppose the so-called Evans Resolution.
14:45Who is this guy?
14:47He's not seriously concerned with combating anti-Semitism in America.
14:53This is not a serious effort.
14:54This guy's going to be a one-term member of Congress.
14:56He's a complete and total embarrassment.
14:59He's not even pretending to be moderate at this point.
15:04He's all in on ripping away health care from the American people.
15:07And this is a desperate attempt to distract.
15:11Why do we know that's the case?
15:14Because every major Jewish organization, including AJC, has come out in opposition to the so-called Evans Resolution.
15:29Every major Jewish organization, as far as I can tell.
15:33These are organizations that are at the forefront of combating anti-Semitism in America.
15:41That resolution is an embarrassment.
15:44It's not serious.
15:46It's a joke.
15:48And Gabe Evans is a joke.
15:50And he's on his way out.
15:51He's done in November of 2026.
15:56So is the leadership whipping against that resolution?
16:01I don't know.
16:02We don't normally whip one way or the other as it relates to resolutions.
16:06And so it's not my understanding that one decision has been made different than the approach that we normally take.
16:12I'm a no.
16:14And everyone will have the ability to make their decision in terms of what's in the best interest of the districts that they represent.
16:25Anti-Semitism is a scourge on America.
16:30It shouldn't be weaponized politically.
16:32It's not a Democratic issue or an American issue or a Republican issue.
16:36It's an American issue.
16:39And we should tackle it not as Democrats or Republicans but as Americans.
16:44So I'm going to stand on the side of the overwhelming majority of Jewish organizations who have the credibility on this issue and have concluded this is not a serious effort to solve what is a serious problem, anti-Semitism in the United States of America.
17:06Thank you, Leader.
17:09You know, when we talk about the images that are happening in Los Angeles right now, what is your argument to the American people that the National Guard is not needed in this situation?
17:21There are thousands of members of the LAPD and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol who have the capacity, by all accounts, according to Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass, to make sure that the lawlessness and disorder that the Trump administration has
17:51is clearly trying to bring about by fanning flames and inciting things on the ground in California that state and local officials and these brave, courageous members of law enforcement, thousands of them, who are part of the LAPD.
18:19The LAPD, the L.A. Sheriff's Department, other local law enforcement, and the California Highway Patrol seem to have the capacity to make sure that the situation is addressed, that peaceful protests are allowed to occur, and that lawbreakers are held accountable.
18:43The Trump administration has zero credibility on this issue.
18:50Really?
18:51Really?
18:52I was here on January 6th.
18:54Donald Trump wasn't a leader on January 6th.
18:59He didn't send a National Guard to stop the violent mob that was brutally beating police officers in plain view for every single American to see.
19:12And this guy, who likely withheld the National Guard, he certainly didn't send them forward, is lecturing the country about law and order.
19:24And if this wasn't enough of a reason to dismiss his credibility on any of these issues, on his first day in office, Donald Trump pardons hundreds of violent felons, some of whom have gone back to their communities all across America and recommitted crimes against everyday Americans.
19:49Give me a break.
19:54We're not feeling you, particularly as it relates to this issue.
20:00Donald Trump and all of these minions who support him, the sycophants, the extremists, have zero credibility on this issue.
20:12Republicans have become the party of lawlessness and disorder.
20:17Thank you, Mr. Leader.
20:19You said that you could find common ground on removing dangerous felons from the country.
20:24What other specific provisions do you, and at least some members of your caucus, feel they can find common ground with Republicans when it comes to potential for bipartisan immigration reform?
20:34Our view on this issue is that we have to secure the border.
20:39We have a broken immigration system that should be fixed in a bipartisan and comprehensive way.
20:46And at the same time, we need to defend DREAMers and farm workers and law-abiding immigrant families.
20:55Those are the core principles that could yield an effort to actually address the things that the American people want to address.
21:05We're supposed to allow in the Trump administration to try to distract the American people by unleashing masked agents.
21:14If they were proud of what they were doing, why are they masked?
21:19This isn't the 1930s.
21:23Why are they masked?
21:26And so they're core principles that are pretty simple. Secure the border decisively.
21:35We supported legislation that was negotiated.
21:38It was the toughest border security bill to emerge from Congress in modern American history, and Donald Trump killed it.
21:49These people have no credibility on the issues that they claim to stand for.
21:55It's all a distraction because their agenda to try to rip health care away from the American people.
22:02They're blowing up the economy, totally mismanaging it.
22:06The American people know it.
22:08This is why his approval ratings have collapsed in general and specifically on the economy.
22:14And so every chance they get, they try to provoke the American people on this issue related to immigration.
22:27These are people where facts don't matter, hypocrisy is not a constraint to their behavior.
22:31They say one thing and they do the other.
22:33And they actually believe that shamelessness is a superpower.
22:38We're not falling for it.
22:42Not now.
22:43Not at all.
22:46Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
22:47Thank you, Mr. Mayor.